Griggs v. Duke Power Co.
| Griggs v. Duke Power Co. | |
|---|---|
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| Argued December 14, 1970 Decided March 8, 1971 |
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| Full case name | Griggs et al. v. Duke Power Co. |
| Citations | 401 U.S. 424 (more) |
| Prior history | Reversed in part, 420 F.2d 1225. Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, granted. |
| Subsequent history | 420 F.2d 1225, reversed in part. |
| Holding | |
| Broad aptitude tests used in hiring practices that disparately impact ethnic minorities must be reasonably related to the job. | |
| Court membership | |
| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Burger, joined by unanimous |
| Brennan took no part in the consideration or decision of the case. | |
| Laws applied | |
| Civil Rights Act of 1964 | |
Griggs v Duke Power Co, 401 US 424 (1971), was a court case argued before the Supreme Court of the United States on December 14, 1970. It concerned employment discrimination and the adverse impact theory, and was decided on March 8, 1971. It is generally considered the first case of its type.
The Supreme Court ruled that the company's employment requirements did not pertain to applicants' ability to perform the job, and so were discriminating against black employees. The judgment famously wrote that "Congress has now provided that tests or criteria for employment or promotion may not provide equality of opportunity merely in the sense of the fabled offer of milk to the stork and the fox."
Duke Power Company was a public utility corporation that was involved in the generation, transmission, distribution, and sale of electric power to the general public in North Carolina and South Carolina. Duke Power also supplied electric power to federal government agencies and, for that reason, was subject to an Executive Order that prohibited discrimination in employment. In the 1950s Duke Power's Dan River plant had a policy that blacks were allowed to work only in its Labor department, which constituted the lowest-paying positions in the company. In 1955 the company added the requirement of a high school diploma for its higher paid jobs.
The Supreme Court ruled that under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, if such tests disparately impact ethnic minority groups, businesses must demonstrate that such tests are "reasonably related" to the job for which the test is required. Because Title VII is passed pursuant to Congress's power under the Commerce Clause of the Constitution, the disparate impact test later articulated by the Supreme Court in Washington v. Davis, 426 US 229 (1976) is inapplicable. (The Washington v. Davis test for disparate impact is used in constitutional equal protection clause cases while Title VII's prohibition on disparate impact is a statutory mandate.) As such, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act prohibits employment tests (when used as a decisive factor in employment decisions) that are not a "reasonable measure of job performance," regardless of the absence of actual intent to discriminate. Since the aptitude tests involved, and the high school diploma requirement, were broad-based and not directly related to the jobs performed, Duke Power's employee transfer procedure was found by the Court to be in violation of the Act.
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